The present invention relates to a method and a device for separating and delivering, orderly positioned, stiff folded baked products, such as taco shells, from a first conveyor, the baked products on said first conveyor resting on carrier means, which are preferably adapted to the shape of the baked products, a relative motion being imparted to the respective baked products in relation to the associated carrier means by a separating means being brought into contact with the baked product, preferably from below, to separate the baked product from the carrier means before it is delivered to a delivery station.
A conveyor of the above-mentioned kind is known, for instance, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,174. This publication discloses a conveying device, by means of which taco shells are conveyed hanging over ridge-like carrier means made of wire grating. This type of conveying device is generally used to convey taco shells through a frying device.
Due to the great amount of fat in the frying step, the taco shells easily get stuck on and between the wires of the carrier means. As a result, it is difficult to remove the taco shells from the carrier means. These difficulties are aggravated if the taco shells are, for instance, covered with cheese, which makes the taco shells even more inclined to stick to the carrier means. Besides the fact that the taco shells easily get stuck on the carrier means, the shells are very fragile after frying and may therefore easily break, for instance, when they are removed from the carrier means or when they fall down on a handling table or on a second conveyor for further transport. Taco shells that are coming loose from the carrier means only due to their own weight in tilting of the carrier means are delivered in an uncontrolled and disorderly manner. This makes the further handling of the taco shells more difficult. As a result, the further handling of the taco shells, such as bundling and packaging, is mostly manual.
The main object of the invention is to obviate the above-mentioned problems and enable safe and orderly handling of the baked products. More specifically, the object of the invention is to enable orderly separation of the baked products from the carrier means without any need for manual work, which in turn facilitates safe continued handling of the baked products, e.g. in bundling and packaging.
This object is achieved by a method according to the invention which is mainly characterised in that the separation of the respective baked products from the associated carrier means is effected by the baked product, during its transport motion, being caused to slide towards a surface portion of the separating means, which surface portion is inclined relative to the transport motion of the carrier means. To carry out this method use can, according to the invention, be made of a device which is characterised in that the separating means has a guiding edge portion, which is inclined relative to the path of motion of the carrier means and which is arranged to form a sliding bar that is engageable from below with the baked products during the transport thereof on the carrier means.
By this arrangement, the baked products are separated in an active and controllable manner from the carrier means, which allows controllable delivery in an orderly manner, which also facilitates the subsequent handling. Additional features and advantages of the invention are stated in the appended dependent claims.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a distance is provided between the baked products and the carrier means in the first conveyor, which allows a support means to be introduced into the space formed by this distance, and the baked products can thus be lifted from the carrier means in an efficient manner for further transport and other types of handling. The features stated in the dependent claims also define a method and a device for safe and efficient handling of brittle and fragile baked products, such as primarily taco shells.